With Apologies to Al Stewart

[klaiggeb]

No sure if many of you remember Al Stewart. He wasn't a "one hit wonder," but not far off.

And so it is, and with apologies to him... I paraphrase...
"By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls
There's a hidden door she leads you to
These days, she says, "I feel my life
Just like a river running through

A year of strange crap..."


Consider, if you will.

Last year Will Venable, Nate Schierholz and Hector Santiago all had break out years...Venable and Nate with 20 HRs, Santiago suddenly fulfilling his promise of being an excellet pitcher... only to all fall off the table, Nate and Will barely hitting .200, and Santiago with an ERA of near 5.00 for most of the season.

Josh Hamilton and Belt, just to name 2 of many, had bizarre thumb injuries,

Chase Headly suddenly forgot how to hit.

Sandoval slumped for almost a month and a half; a slump no one could explain, and Posey followed suit and no one knew why.

Romo forgot how to pitch.

Cardinal pitchers went down at an alarming rate, and for some bizarre reason, the Dodgers couldn't beat a rug for most of the year.

And the Giants BLEW a 9 1/2 game lead

There is more, much more, but my point is, it's been a year of, (sing along with me here) "... a year of strange crap..."

boly

[Rog]

If one looks hard and deeply enough, every years is a year of strange crap. We just happen to be rooting for one of the stranger ones this season. Making it all the more frustrating is that we may have overrated them early on. Like for a little over two months.

Things have a way of evening themselves out -- and usually do so.

[Rog]

Take heart! The season is NOT over. How likely is it that a team that was once 42-21 has suddenly become a team that can't even approach .500?

A question that I suppose is easy in retrospect? Should the Giants have been more careful with Pagan when he first injured himself -- especially with his injury history? Little doubt though that he wanted to be macho, believing that he was better at 75% than his replacement would be at 100%.

The way Blanco has played since Pagan went out, perhaps Angel was right. But was it worth the risk of re-injury?

[klaiggeb]

And we signed Mr. Pop Up for... what, 2.5 million?

We're sure getting our monies worth outta this guy.

boly

[Rog]

$2.5 million isn't a lot for even a utlity player. You are right that the Giants haven't gotten their money's worth this season, but they more than received value in 2012 and 2013. Unfortunately the three top depth guys -- Blanco, Arias and Sanchez -- aren't hitting well this season.

Take away his 4 for 40 start to the season, and Gregor has actually hit about like usual -- .278. Unfortunately though, he's just 8 for 48 right now -- and his weak hitting is further accentuated by the rest of the team's struggles.

If Gregor were the Giants' biggest problem, they'd still be in first place. He's just one of many problems.

One good thing about Gregor is that even when he's not hitting, he can help his team with his glove and his legs. Right now that's just not enough though.

Ideally though, Gregor would be a 5th outfielder and wouldn't be relied on all that much. He's decent as a 4th outfielder, but he's a good 5th one.

One thing I would have liked to see from Gregor though would have been another bunt the other day with runners on first and third and no outs. Such a bunt should have been able to get the runner home from third even had he not been able to beat it out. The problem though was that the corner infielders were so far in that beating out the bunt would have been very difficult, and unless the bunt was a very good one, the runner likely wouldn't have been able to score from third, either.

Still, I like it when a fast runner bunts and puts pressure on the defense. And beating out a bunt just LOOKS so cool.

[Rog]

One thing about Gregor is that he's one heck of a streaky hitter. Keep sending him out there, and he'll almost certianly hit a hot streak at some point. It surely would be nice if that could begin today. Bat him 8th and see what happens.

Heck, if the Giants throw out a ground ball pitcher in a smaller park, put Colvin in center for a day. The Giants don't seem to have faith in him there though. With the Giants having to throw out slumping Blanco and Perez every day, one must assume there's a reason for that lack of faith. One would think the Giants would have tried about everything by now.

[Rog]

Don't suppose it will happen, but I'd love to see the Giants get Brandon Belt back to using his outfielder's glove to at least be ready. When Sanchez catcher, especially against a righty, it would be nice to have both Buster's and Brandon's bats in the lineup. Even with his lack of experience, I suspect Brandon can do at least as well in the outfield as Morse.

If the Giants re-sign Morse, I would look to switching him and Brandon in the field. Morse doesn't look too bad at first base, and he's only going to get slower in the outfield. Morse's outfield play hasn't really hurt the Giants too much thus far. But at some point it's almost bound to.

Belt is a very good first baseman, but coupled with Morse, he might help the team out best as a left fielder. One positive about Brandon in the outfield is that he does have a very strong arm, which is somewhat wasted at first base.

Ideally though, Brandon would play the outfield only to give Buster a chance to play first base.

[klaiggeb]

Rob--Don't suppose it will happen, but I'd love to see the Giants get Brandon Belt back to using his outfielder's glove to at least be ready.

---boly says--

Rog, this was a point I made a long... long time ago, before we acquired Morse. Before Spring Training started.

Thing is, he picked a ball cleanly for a DP yesterday that Morse, likely would not have fielded.


All that said, his bat in the OF is a good idea, at least on a limited basis.

For me, IF Posey needs a rest, and believe me, this is NOT my first choice...


LF-Morse

CF-Pence

RF-Belt

NOT, repeat NOT NOT NOT my first choice, and we'd need some defensive replacements around the 5th or 6 inning... but it certainly has a better chance of scoring runs than Blanco ANYWHERE out there.

boly

[Rog]

I'm not sure Hunter has previously been mentioned as a center fielder, but he has played there 95 times, 90 of them starts. With his new diet, he's faster now, so I'm not sure I can see any reason he couldn't handle it.



Probably not going to happen, but I like the outside the box thinking.



Let's suppose the Giants make the playoffs, and they need Tim Lincecum to pitch a key game. Tim obviously likes pitching to Hector Sanchez, but whom do you leave out of the lineup so he can do so? Buster Posey or Brandon Belt? How about if Mike Morse injures his leg and has to move to first base for a while to stay in the lineup? What if Buster gets dinged up behind the plate and has to play first base to stay in the lineup?



Maybe give Brandon time to get settled back in. Then break out that fielder's glove again. At first base, he's more like an adult giraffe.



By the way, doesn't Joe Panik kind of personify the term "pesky hitter?" Pitchers can get ahead of him, but they surely have a hard time getting him to go outside the strike zone. And even if he does, he's darn good at fouling them off.



It would be great if he could begin making more solid contact, but he certainly made some against Adam Wainwright of all pitchers.



Here's why I like Joe. He hasn't played all that well, but he has three stats that pop.



He has swung and missed only one out of every 21 pitches. He has swung at only one out of every four pitches outside the strike zone. he has missed only one out of eight pitches he has swung at. That's nice contact. The only question is how hard that contact will be.



Hey, I'd trade him (and a lot more) for Jose Altuve!

[Rog]

Regarding the A's acquisition of Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, I was wrong about Samardzija. He's not a free agent until after the 2015 season. Hammel is a free agent after this season though.

So the A's got a guaranteed half season from Hammel and 1 1/2 from Samardzija. What did they have to give up?

The gave up one of their relief pitchers (not much), a 20-year-old left fielder known for his bat but not his glove -- and Addison Russell. Russell too is just 20, is a top-10 overall prospect, is already playing in AA, and has been described by one scout as Barry Larkin with power.

I don't think the Giants had serious interest in Samardzija, but if they had, who could they have offered who compared with Russell?

The A's are going for it now. They likely won't be able to afford their roster for long. The Cubs are building for the future. They might have the best prospects of any major league team -- especially in the field. Counting incumbent Starlin Castro, the Cubbies now have three good young shortstops, so they are probably in position to add to their rotation.

After all their futility, it's hard to root hard against the Cubs. Perhaps their time to compete in a serious manner isn't far away. As for the A's, is there a better team in baseball?

[klaiggeb]

Now Altuve would fit it in very nicely.

Too bad we haven 't got a package that could tear him loose, because he fits in perfectly with Houston's plans.

Young, fast, good hitter, team player.

Sigh...

Wishful thinking.

boly

[Rog]

Boly -- Now Altuve would fit it in very nicely.

Too bad we haven 't got a package that could tear him loose, because he fits in perfectly with Houston's plans.

Young, fast, good hitter, team player.

Sigh...

Rog -- I don't think the Giants could afford to give up enough to get Jose, and they would certainly be buying high. My thinking though would be that if the Giants could find a team badly needing a closer and an experienced young catcher, the Giants could trade whatever they could get for Romo and the Astros' catcher Jason Castro (which should be a lot) along with Susac, Panik and one of the better pitching prospects for Altuve and Castro.

The Astros could get a bushel full of prospects in a deal like that. They'd have to, since Altuve and Castro are probably their top two young players. In reality, there is little way the Giants could get Altuve.

Boly -- Wishful thinking.

Rog -- I'm thinking Panik and two top pitching prospects, which would be quite a bit to give. For a special player like Altuve though, I could certainly consider it. Jose is under team control until after the 2017 season.

Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/2354/apologies-al-stewart#ixzz36fIKA000

[rxmeister]

Beane gave up a lot for Samardzija, but the fact that he's signed through 2015 is big. He can always flip him and get back another top prospect in the offseason or next year's trade deadline. He turned down 5 yrs 85 million from the Cubs, so the A's will never re-sign him. The acquisition of Russell puts Starlin Castro into play though. The Cubs have another top prospect at SS too. Perhaps the Giants can offer up some young pitching here and move Castro to 2B.

[klaiggeb]

Mark--The Cubs have another top prospect at SS too. Perhaps the Giants can offer up some young pitching here and move Castro to 2B.

---boly says---

No thanks, Mark, you can keep Starlin. What I see everytime I watch him play is a less talented, albeit younger version of Hanely Ramirez.

Prone to brooding, and not really my idea of a team player.

Could be it's just because he's on the "go no where" Cubs, but I don't think so.


I want to bring in guys like Pence and Morse, and I'm NOT talking about power necessarily.

I'm talking about guys who come to PLAY.

Guys with talent who add something on the field AND in the clubhouse.


I don't see, or read, about Starlin being that guy.

boly